Get Guardian on Google• Calls For Increased Advocacy To Identify Missing Cases
• Nigeria To Record Four Million Cases This Year
The National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP) has lamented that over 76 percent of people affected by tuberculosis (TB) in Nigeria are not on treatment, which poses a challenge to efforts towards eradication of the world’s most infectious killer, but curable disease.
It is estimated that about 18 Nigerians are lost to tuberculosis every hour.
Speaking at unveiling of Tonto Dike as the Ambassador for “Spread,” a nationwide awareness campaign organised by Godspower Oshodin Global Foundation, Tonto Dike Foundation and Help from the South Foundation targeted towards curbing tuberculosis in Nigeria, Deputy Director and Head of Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilisation.
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Mrs. Itohowo Uko said tuberculosis, which is a disease of the lungs, is prevalent in our communities, adding that 76 percent of the case are missing.
According to her, stigmatisation is part of the reasons behind the missing cases.
Uko called for increased awareness on the dangers of TB to trace the missing cases and place them on treatment.
She explained that TB was not a death sentence, as “it is curable.”
She urged affected persons to seek medical attention, as test and treatment were free.
The founder of Godspower Oshodin Global Foundation, Godspower Oshodin, said the Federal Ministry of Health predictions revealed there would be four million cases of TB in Nigeria in 2020, and out of the number, 25 percent would also have HIV infection. Two hundred thousand of the cases have Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) cases.
Tonto Dike promised to use her celebrity status to galvanise support to bridge the awareness gap and bring an end to the scourge.
